outskirts
Britishplural noun
Explanation
Some people like to live downtown. Others prefer the open spaces of the suburbs. But if you live in between the two, you are in the outskirts, the place where the city ends and the suburbs begin. Outskirts describes the outer edge of a city or town, farthest from the center but still technically part of that place. If you had a city map, you could draw a line on all sides where crowded streets filled with apartment buildings and businesses begin to give way to single-family houses and country roads. You might not get a perfect circle but you will see that outskirts are those border places between the city and the little towns that surround it.
Vocabulary lists containing outskirts
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He also ramped up the blight elimination campaign, using state and city funds and a $3 million grant from the Hard Rock Casino, which opened on the outskirts of Gary in 2021.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
But when humans began living in villages and towns on the outskirts of those forests, some mosquitoes found the water stored in containers in human settlements a more attractive breeding ground.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
The 37-year-old hairstylist settled in Soweto, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, found work, built a life and believed he had a future in one of Africa's biggest economies.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
They were attempting to keep the fire from approaching the western outskirts of Athens after it scaled a mountain overnight.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Since we left the minibus on the outskirts of Aleppo, I’ve only seen a few shared taxis.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
